Marshall Eriksen
Marshall Eriksen is the tritagonist and husband of Lily Aldrin the TV series How I Met Your Mother. He's played by Jason Segel. History Season 1 Marshall proposes to Lily in the first episode. The two then begin planning their wedding throughout the rest of the series. When Lily realizes all the things she hasn't done yet, she winds up having a fight with Marshall and the wedding is called off. Marshall is not a lawyer in the first episode as he is still studying. He interns at Barney's place of business, but is reluctant to actually work there. This isn't helped by the bullying he receives from Barney's co-workers. Barney changes his mind by letting Marshall help him pull pranks on one unfortunate scapegoat. Season 2 Marshall is left single for the first time in years. Barney offers to help him find a new girlfriend, but double-crosses him at every opportunity. This is later revealed to be a scheme to keep Marshall single until he's ready to get back with Lily. Marshall and Lily soon reconcile and the wedding proceeds as planned...in a sense. Marshall's bachelor party goes off the rails as soon as he invites Barney. On the day of the wedding, Marshall gets his hair done, only to find out too late that the hairdresser gave him a pretentious hairdo. Panicking, Marshall shaved part of his head. Ted convinces Marshall to get out and get some air to calm his nerves. While outside, Marshall sees Lily. The two admit that this wedding has gotten out of hand for them. Ted convinces the two that they should just get married right in the middle of the park, as Barney had a marriage license and Ted and Robin were witnesses. Marshall also wins a bet with Barney that allows him to slap Barney 5 times whenever he wants to. He slaps Barney twice in this season. Marshall's old Fiero breaks down and he reluctantly says goodbye to the last remnant of his youth. Season 3 Marshall establishes Slapsgiving, a holiday based around slapping Barney and eating turkey. He reluctantly considers taking a job for a business that would cause irreparable damage to the environment when he realizes that Lily had maxed out their credit cards. Eventually, Marshall and Lily bought an apartment, only to find out that it was downwind of a sewage treatment plant and had a slanted floor. After passing his bar exams, Marshall got a job as a lawyer. In his first week, Marshall was verbally abused by his boss, "Artillery" Arthur. Marshall was emotionally stressed out as it was, bursting into tears in front of everyone. Barney convinces Marshall to yell at his boss and regain some dignity. When Marshall takes his advice, he gets lost in the moment and dramatically quits. Season 4 Marshall has begun to implode from unemployment. Barney manages to get him a job at Goliath National Bank, but keeps it a secret so Marshall can surprise Lily. After having the apartment floor fixed, Marhsall and Lily consider having a baby. Marshall would spend the rest of the series developing a closer bond with the rest of the gang. On Ted's birthday, he resolves to complete one task that he's always contemplated: leaping off the balcony onto the neighboring building. Season 5 Barney drags Marshall to a strip club, where they see a stripper who looks just like Lily. Since the gang had recently seen doppelgangers of Robin and Marshall, Marshall and Lily decided to wait on having a baby until they had seen all 5 doppelgangers. When Barney and Robin come out as a couple, Marhsall and Lily try spending more time with them. The clingy, lovey-dovey couple are rejected at first, but take Barney and Robin back when the two being to feel out of place. Barney convinces Marshall that his relationship with Robin is better than Marshall's relationship with Lily because he has Robin under his thumb. When Marshall tries to dominate Lily, this leads to several big fights and Marshall is kicked out. When the two see that Barney and Robin handle their problems by avoiding them at all costs, Marshall and Lily make up, secure in the knowledge that they're a much healthier couple. Marshall takes some interest in Robin's love-life, trying to help her break up with the unreliable Barney and get back on the horse with someone new. Marshall finds a letter he wrote to himself 15 years ago and realizes that he's living an unfulfilled life. He nearly quits his job so he can do what he originally set out to do, but Lily convinces him that he's matured from the teenager that wrote that letter and shouldn't feel pressured to be something bigger than he can handle. Marshall resumes an old smoking habit in order to bond with his smoker boss, who just happens to be "Artillery" Arthur. When the whole gang developed a smoking habit, they make a pact to quit. Marshall attracts the attention of an attractive co-worker and begins to wonder if Lily takes him for granted. When the woman kissed him, Marshall bragged about it to Lily and found that she wasn't even jealous. He then introduces the two and Lily savagely beats her up. Marshall never tested Lily's love again after that. Season 6 Marshall and Lily officially begin trying for a baby. Marshall consults his father on child-rearing in the hopes of getting a boy, but after finding out that Lily was desperate for a girl, they decide to leave it up to chance. After trying repeatedly to get a baby, Marshall begins to lose hope. He visits a fertility doctor and finds out that his sperm are fertile, just slow-starters. Marshall is initially happy about this but breaks down when he finds out his father has died. At the funeral, Marshall begins thinking about his father's last words. When he finds out his father left him a voicemail, he listens to it only to hear static. Marshall sinks even further into his depression until his father's voice suddenly comes through. After hearing his father say "I love you, son" Marshall is ready to move forward with his life... …but then he decided to spend more time with his mother and regressed to an adolescent phase. Ted tried to get him to come back to New York but also fell into his teenage habits. Finally, the two admit they're running away from their problems and go back to New York. Marshall quits his job and takes up a volunteer position at an environmental agency. He tell Lily that after his father died he wants to make the most out of life. Knowing that this would put a strain on Lily, he resolves to apply for a paying job at another firm. When Ted's current girlfriend Zoey uses Marshall as her personal lawyer in a feud between her activist group and GNB, it puts a huge strain on Marshall's friendship with Barney. After getting drunk and venting their problems, the two make their peace. Marshall simultaneously gets a job at an environmental agency and impregnates Lily. Season 7 Marshall strikes another bet with Barney that if he can't perform the art of shinjutsu, he'll have to wear a tie with yellow ducks on it for a whole year. Barney loses and spends the rest of the season in the tie. Marshall and Lily move to the suburbs, which leaves Ted, Barney and Robin alone together in New York. This threatens to break the gang up for good, as the three friends were trying to work through some lingering feelings for each other. With Lily's pregnancy fast approaching, Marshall goes to Atlantic City to blow some steam. When Lily goes into labour, Barney helps Marshall get back to New York to witness the birth of his son. They name him "Marvin-Waitforit-Eriksen". Season 8 Marshall and Lily have a difficult time adjusting to being parents. Marshall runs into Brad, a former classmate from college. Brad appears to be down on his luck and in need of a job, so Marshall pulls some strings and gets him an interview at his company. Afterwards, Brad reveals that he was actually a mole planted by a rival business. The two then go against each other in court disputing the condition of a lake that was a dumping ground for toxic waste. Brad clearly has the advantage, given his ability to charm an all-female jury and a possibly homosexual judge. Marshall's persistence during all of this is noticed by Brad, who remembers why he got into law and resigns from his company. He then encourages Marshall to apply for a judge position. Marshall's judgeship application is successful, but unfortunately it coincides with Lily's plans to move to Italy. Marshall doesn't plan on telling Lily until they arrive after Barney and Robin's wedding. Marshall takes his son Marvin to his mother's place for a few days before booking a flight to Farhampton where the wedding will take place. Season 9 Marshall and Marvin are stranded outside the airport as they missed the last bus to Farhampton. Marshall is then forced to go on a road trip with an obnoxious woman named Daphne. After getting on each other's nerves for a while, the two eventually make their peace before Daphne leaves. Marshall then takes a bus to Farhampton, but it breaks down 5 miles from Farhampton. He tries walking the rest of the way, managing to get a ride from a young woman on her way to the wedding and arriving shortly before midnight. Marshall reveals to Barney that he plans on giving him his penultimate slap before he gets married. Marshall tries to get Barney scared by telling him how he trained his slapping technique to the nth degree in anticipation for this moment. When he finally does, the result is anti-climatic and ultimately done more for psychological torment than physical pain. Marshall reveals his plans of becoming a judge to Lily, who already had plans to travel to Italy and become and art consultant. This causes a fight between the two that reignites the tensions from when Lily first left Marshall. When Marshall brings up the possibility that maybe Lily only married him because she couldn't do any better, Lily runs off in tears. Future Marshall would eventually help save the environment. After Lily gets pregnant with their third child, they move out of the gang's old apartment. Marshall would eventually get his judgeship after years of waiting, later rising to Supreme Court status. He also manages to travel through time for the sole purpose of treating his younger self to some buffalo wings. Personality Marshall is probably the nicest member of the gang. He grew up in Minnesota where everyone was close and treated each other with respect. This makes him stand out a bit in cold and distant New York. Marshall only has eyes for Lily. They've been together since they first met in college. Ted once commented on how they've since combined into one hermaphroditic blob with a singular personality. Whenever Marshall meets a woman more attractive than Lily, he has to pretend that she's been dead for several years before he can fantasies about them. Marshall has been studying his whole life to help save the environment. This is at odds with his original occupation as a lawyer for Goliath National Bank, which funds all sorts of unsustainable and harmful projects. The only reasons Marshall stays on is to provide for Lily and hang out with Ted and Barney, who also work for GNB. Marshall also has some fairly bizarre mannerisms. He's highly superstitious, sings about whatever he's doing and has a habit of walking in on Ted getting intimate with a woman and just standing there and watching for no real reason. A recurring joke about Marshall is his obsession with food. He also has incredible gaming skills, being able to understand and master most games on his first try. 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